Harold Ronk, 85; Singing Ringmaster for Ringling Bros.
Harold Ronk, 85, the singing ringmaster who welcomed audiences to the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, died Aug. 2 at a hospital in Canton, Ohio.
The cause of death was not announced.
Born in Peoria, Ill., Ronk took singing lessons and appeared in school productions throughout his childhood. After graduating from that city’s Bradley University in 1941, he was a Navy communications officer in the South Pacific during World War II.
His career as an entertainer got an early boost from Broadway composer Sigmund Romberg, who hired him for a national tour of the musical “My Romance” in 1948. When the tour ended, Ronk moved to Washington, D.C., and became a soloist at the National Presbyterian Church.
In 1951, he auditioned for what he thought was a Broadway show, but in fact he was singing for John Murray Anderson, director of the Ringling Bros. Circus.
Ronk got the job, and for most of the next 30 years he welcomed audiences to performances of the circus company.
He retired to Canton in 1981. His longtime companion, Robert Harrison, an assistant performance director with the circus, died in 1995.
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